Fox Has Big Plans for Marvel Superheroes

Fox Studios owns the movie rights to several major Marvel Comics properties and has big plans for many of them.  In an interview given over the weekend, Fox Studios chief Tom Rothman made it clear that Fox was actively developing reboots and sequels for several major Marvel franchises.  Specifically, Rothman says Fox is planning a reboot of both Daredevil and Fantastic Four and is planning a sequel to X-Men: First Class.  Additionally, he also mentioned in a separate interview that Fox was also developing a new X-Men related franchise, possibly the New Mutants.

In an interview with MTV News, Rothman was asked about the status of its Marvel Comics related projects.  Here’s what he had to say…

• X-Men First Class sequel is in the works now.  Fox is looking for either a later 2013 or early 2014 release date.
• David Slade is firmly attached to the Daredevil reboot.  For those that don’t know, Slade is the director of the Twilight New Moon and Eclipse films.
• Fox is working towards getting Josh Trank to develop a reboot of the Fantastic Four series.  Trank is the guy behind the hit Chronicle film.

And what about that New Mutants movie?  In a separate interview given to Collider, Tom Rothman was asked specifically about The New Mutants.  The question presented to him was this…

I know you guys have like The New Mutants and a lot of characters in the X-Menuniverse.  Obviously you guys are moving forward on an X-Men sequel, you’re moving forward on Wolverine, do you envision New Mutants or some of these other characters as franchises that the door can be open to?  It does seem to me that the superhero genre is bigger than it’s ever been, and you guys have some of the crown jewels.

Rothman’s answer was vague, to say the least, but he does seem to silently ackowledge the possibility of a New Mutants project, saying…

Let me just say this.  All I have to say is, I agree with you in your assessment of the potential in a lot of these characters.

As for when an announcement would be made about this secret project, Rothman gave another relatively vague answer, saying it would be “in the Summer.”  And if you’re going to announce a major superhero movie in the Summer, I think we all know that you do it at The San Diego Comic Con.  As more information is released about the X-Men: First Class sequel, Daredevil and Fantastic Four reboots, and the New Mutants film, I’ll be sure to keep you all up to speed.  In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on these projects in the comments below.